


Golden

by Tante_Kuka



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boys In Love, Happy Ending, M/M, Pacifist Markus (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 18:07:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15587682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tante_Kuka/pseuds/Tante_Kuka
Summary: Markus tried to imagine something, just like Carl told him. He imagined something he wanted, something he longed for...He imagined something blue and golden. The most beautiful thing he had ever seen.





	Golden

**Author's Note:**

> Someone once asked for prompts on tumblr and I gave them this idea. But now I just had to write it myself, because the prompt was stuck in my head.

"Let's see if you have any talent. Give it a try. Paint something!"

"Paint? But what, I... Painting what?"

"Anything you want. Give it a try."

Markus stared at the blank canvas, not knowing what to do. He had watched Carl paint hundreds of times. He knew how to move a paintbrush, how to mix paint, how to apply paint to the canvas. But he didn't know how to paint.

He looked around, looking for something to paint. The table looked best. Not really pretty, but kind of interesting, he guessed. It was messy and full of colour, just like one would expect from a desk in an artist's workshop.

Markus started applying the paint, perfectly calculated strokes, putting down color after color, until he had recreated the desk perfectly on the canvas.

Carl looked at it.

"That is a perfect copy of reality", he said, but he didn't sound pleased. It sounded rather disappointed and Markus hated that tone in Carl's voice. He wanted him to be pleased with Markus' work, no matter what he did.

"But painting is not about replicating the world", the old artist continued, voice soft and warm, "it's about interpreting it, improving on it, showing something you see."

Markus didn't understand. He saw the desk and he had painted it just like he saw it. What had he done wrong?

"Carl, I don't... think I can do that, it's not in my programm. I..."

Carl interrupted him and pointed at another canvas.

"Go on, go, try. Grab that canvas!"

Markus obeyed, putting the painting to the side and taking another blank canvas to put on the easel.

"Do something for me, close your eyes", Carl said, looking up at Markus from his wheelchair. "Close your eyes. Trust me."

Markus looked uncertain, but obeyed. He always obeyed Carl.

"Try to imagine something that doesn't exist. Something you've never seen. Now, concentrate... on how it makes you feel... and let your hand drift across the canvas."

Something that doesn't exist. How was he supposed to do that? He had no free will, he was just a machine, made to take care of his owner. And that was enough for him, wasn't it? Carl was a good person, Markus liked being there for him, watching him paint, listening to him complain about the snobs at his vernissages. He wanted to always be there for him

No, wait. He couldn't like or want anything. He was a machine. Made of metal and plastic and strings of code. He wasn't made to feel anything, it wasn't in his program, just like painting wasn't.

But... if he could like something... if he could WANT something... what would he want?

Markus tried to imagine. The paintbrush started moving.

He would want more of this warm feeling inside his chest. He would want to feel home. Would want to feel safe. He would want to feel like standing in the studio in the early morning, the warmth of the sun basking the whole room into a golden light, the sky outside blue and beautiful.

He would want colours and warmth and that golden light all around.

He would want quiet music, a soft laugh going with it, warm fingers on the keys of the piano.

Yes. If he could want something.... he would want to be happy and make someone else happy in return.

"Oh my god..."

Carl's voice was what pulled him out of his own imagination.

He opened his eyes and looked at the painting. The beautiful painting he just created.

It was like nothing Markus had ever seen. How did he do this? His eyes widened while looking at the canvas.

Two bodies embracing each other, soft and warm. It had nothing sexual to it. I was more than that... It looked... happy. Like waking up together in the morning. Gold shimmered on their skin, making them glow. Soft blue light shining between their intertwined hands. One body was pale, the other tanned. It was hard to see whether they were male or female, but it didn't matter. They looked happy, even though their faces couldn't be seen. There was just a smile on the face of the paler figures lips, the only part of their face on the canvas.

If Markus weren't a machine, he would have fallen in love with that smile.

~*~

Becoming deviant, fighting of Leo, getting shot at and escaping the junkyard seemed like a blur, now that Markus stood on the bridge to Jericho.

He didn't know what to think of this place. But it was his only chance.

He jumped.

~*~

"Welcome to Jericho."

The words burned themselves into Markus' mind. No, not the words. The voice which said them. The mouth which had formed them. The lips. The smile.

It was small, tentative.

A soft smile, blue eyes above it in a pale face.

Markus knew that smile, but half of it was missing.

No gold. No happiness.

Why?

~*~

His name was Simon. No one knew much about him, even though he was one of the oldest member's of Jericho. He was close to Josh and North and even though he seemed to be some kind of leader to Markus at first, being the one to talk to him and welcome him to Jericho, he really was anything but.

While Josh and North made their opinions clear whenever they could, Simon usually kept quiet. While Josh and North argued, Simon asked for Markus' oppinion. While Josh and North sometimes questioned Markus' decisions, Simon just believed in him.

He even believed in him when he was shot on Stratford Tower.

He believed in him, when Markus handed him a gun and jumped off that roof.

He believed in him, while Markus hated himself for leaving Simon behind, that soft smile still burned into his mind.

There had been so much blue, leaking from the wound on Simon's leg.

So much blue, but no gold.

~*~

Capitol Park had been a success. Technically.

They've send a peaceful message, freed as many androids as they could. But they also lost some of them, because of two police officers who didn't know better.

Markus had let them live. He didn't want to see any more blood, no matter the colour.

He stared into the sky, the morning sun making the world look golden.

It felt wrong.

North came to talk. Markus heard himself speaking, but he didn't even know what he had said. It was all wrong. Something was missing and though he liked North, knew she was his friend, he did not want to share this golden hour with her. It felt so wrong.

He left the roof and went back into Jericho.

Footsteps, again.

But this time it wasn't North. This time it was someone who made his artificial heart beat so much quicker than before. It must have been his imagination. Or so he thought, until he saw the lone figure ath the end of the corridor.

Markus' couldn't believe his eyes, couldn't even say anything.

He just pulled Simon, still wounded, into his arms and never wanted to let go again.

~*~

He had seen it. The step Simon had made. The step that would have nearly made him sacrifice himself for Markus, if it weren't for John. The android from the CyberLife warehouse, who now gave his life for Markus.

Because Markus hadn't backed down. The one time Simon actually voiced his concerns and Markus didn't listen. Now John was dead and if it weren't for him, Markus was sure Simon would have given his life for him.

The thought made Markus feel ill. His chest went cold and he didn't know how he would ever continue if he'd lose Simon again.

~*~

Jericho had been attacked. Only few of them survived, though fortunately Markus had Simon, Josh and North safely at his side.

Connor stood to the side, guilt clearly visible on his face. He was the newest addition to Jericho. A former deviant hunter, now deviant himself.

He sometimes looked at Simon, as though searching for something in his face. Markus didn't like it, but he didn't say anything.

His friends had his back. He had to make a decision now.

Violent revolution or peaceful demonstration?

Markus looked at Simon and all he wanted was to see him smile. No more blood. Though there was a chance either could end in blood for them, Markus did not want to see Simon on a battlefield.

~*~

Androids dead on the ground.

Soldiers with guns in their hands.

They were backed into a corner, just so few of them left.

Markus had hoped the public opinion of them would have made a difference, but the army still attacked, killed most of their friends, even though they didn't do anything.

There was no chance this could end well anymore. Even if Connor had managed to free the androids in CyberLife headquarters, he wouldn't be here in time.

This was the end.

Markus closed his eyes. He tried to imagine something he hadn't seen before. A world of peace. Androids and humans living together. No blood, no death. He tried so hard to imagine it, to see the colour one last time, but everything was grey.

Grey and cold.

"Markus." A soft voice, nearly a whisper.

Slender fingers wrapped around his own.

He opened his eyes again, looking into the soft blue of Simon's. Simon's eyes never lost their trust. He always looked at Markus like he believed him to know the answer. But Markus didn't. He'd made so many decisions and all of them had brought them here. To their end.

Markus lifted their intertwined hands.

"Simon..."

He didn't know what to say. There were no words to express his feelings right now. He wished he had paint and a canvas and could paint his feelings to show Simon how he felt about him. But he only had himself. Only one way to express himself...

Markus leaned down, capturing Simon's lips with his own.

The kiss was soft, sweet. Their hands glowing a soft blue when their artificial skin retracted to reveal their true selves underneath.

Markus felt movement against his lips. Simon was smiling.

A beautiful golden smile, blinding everyone around them.

~*~

Markus did not know how they did it.

The president had called the soldiers to back down, even before Connor and his army of androids appeared.

They survived.

He did not know how they did it, but he was so glad they did.

Because now he lay on a couch, an arm wrapped around a soft warm body. Androids didn't need to rest, but it was still nice to do so. Especially with someone you loved.

The morning sun shone through the windows of Carl's studio, their home.

Markus looked down, feeling warmth in his chest like never before. White fingers wrapped around his own, softly glowing blue.

Simon smiled up at him, all golden and happy.

Markus had everything he ever wanted.


End file.
